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Selected:Assumption SurfacingSAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method)Fishbone DiagramFailure Mode and Effects Analysis
| Criterion |  Decision Making Assumption Surfacing |  Architecture SAAM (Software Architecture Analysis Method) |  Operations Fishbone Diagram |  Operations Failure Mode and Effects Analysis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Purposedifferent | Plans often contain assumptions that were never openly stated and remain dangerous precisely because of that. Assumption Surfacing makes these silent premises visible and prioritizes which of them carry the initiative or could sink it. | SAAM helps teams judge an architecture’s suitability for selected tasks and changes. It is particularly useful for examining modifiability and comparing architecture alternatives with clear reasoning. | When a problem has several possible contributing factors, the method sorts causes by cause areas. It prevents an initial hunch from blocking the view of other plausible drivers. | For a process, product, or service with noticeable failure risks, the method assesses possible failure modes in advance. It directs attention to combinations of occurrence, effect, and detectability. |
Complexitydifferent | Low | High | Low | High |
Timedifferent | 45-90 min | Preparation, scenario analysis, and findings review; effort depends on scope | 30-60 min | 2-6 h |
Participantsdifferent | 2-8 | Architecture experts and stakeholders for scenarios and weighting | 2-8 | 3-10 |
Formatdifferent | Workshop + async | Workshop + async | Workshop | Workshop |
Outputdifferent | Assumption List, Critical Assumptions, Learning Plan | Domain functions mapped to components and connections, Quality attributes and evaluation criteria, Typical tasks and their effects on the architecture, Reasoned evaluation or comparison of alternatives | Fishbone Diagram, Cause Categories, Investigation Backlog | FMEA Table, Risk Priority, Mitigation Actions |
Tagsno overlap | AssumptionsRiskDecisionDiscovery | ArchitectureChangeAnalysisComparisonQuality | Root causeQualityOperations | RiskQualityOperationsRoot cause |